The “50-year Bitcoin” joke reveals crypto’s split tempo, where the base layer ossifies while L2s and edge systems innovate rapidly.
Bitcoin evolves on two clocks: slow, consensus-driven changes at the base layer and fast experimentation at the edges.
Major upgrades (such as Taproot) arrive through cautious soft forks after long review.
Rapid shifts such as Lightning payments and Ordinals happen without changing Bitcoin’s core rules, which is why headlines move faster than the L1.
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